Saturday, 13 August 2011

Top 10 Reasons Why Football is Better Than Baseball

Top 10 Reasons Why Football is Better Than Baseball

Following the Top 10 Reasons Why Baseball is Better than Football, we turn the tables to see how the gridiron is favored above America’s pastime. Everyone will have their preference, yet these are some ways of favoring the former sport.

10. The Sunday/Monday Night Aura

In direct opposition to the “every day of the week” idea is football’s place on Sunday and Monday (night). After all, besides a worship service – what could be more relevant than watching football on Sunday afternoon? The same certainly bodes for Monday Night Football.
Baseball cannot compare to the event that is present on the typical days of football. Add in Thanksgiving football games and you have quite the argument.

9. Athleticism

As a general rule, football is a more athletic sport. The range and demand of strength, speed, agility, and overall athleticism is more relevant in football than in baseball.
Add in toughness and you have a nod to football for its players. Exceptions are present, but football players are more athletic than baseball players – as the sport demands.

8. The Clock

The clock in football does a number of things that baseball cannot argue with in these comparisons. Sure it speeds up the game and provides a few outlining advantages, but what about what it adds to strategy in football?
This is the most impactful advantage in football with respect to the clock. The two-minute offense, time of possession, and other aspects that only the clock provides allows for a distinct advantage for football.

7. Team as a Cohesive Unit

The team can be seen as more important in the sport of football. After all there is no equivalent of the intentional walk – taking away the most dangerous hitter in baseball.
In football second and third-string players are much more important. A third-string wide receiver will for instance see much more game time than a second baseman in the same depth chart spot. Add in special teams and you have the team arguably playing as a more cohesive unit for football.

6. The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the quintessential event in sports. It sees the highest number of viewers and advertising. For instance, in the top 45 network primetime telecasts of all time (1964-2010), 20 are given to Super Bowls – the most recent (Super Bowl XLIV – Saints/Colts) being number one at 53.6 million households.
Nothing can compete with the Super Bowl: it remains the biggest playoff/sports event in the United States, blowing away baseball and the World Series.

5. Importance of Schedule

In the other list we saw the length of schedule as being an advantage for baseball. There are two sides to everything, and baseball has the expense of games coming at lesser importance – there are a number of World Series champions who have had seven-game losing streaks, for instance.
Every game matters in the NFL. One loss can make or break a season, which adds to the excitement in football.

4. Football at the High School/College Level

From our previous list we observed how baseball is a better sport for children – to bring them to games and in regard to Little League. However, at the high school and college level there is no discussion.
In high school Friday night football games are the place to be. High school football is much more important – a dynamic seen in college as well. College baseball is easily overpowered by college football (and basketball).

3. Breadth of Strategy

“More” strategy in football is probably not fair, to be precise. However in football, objectively speaking, there is a much wider range of strategy and strategic elements.

In football there are plays and a wide range of offensive and defensive formations/styles (think formations/packages, run/pass dominated offenses and West Coast, etc.). Two-minute and time of possession, as spoken of earlier, adds to the breadth of strategy in football.
Football provides a wide assortment of schemes, plays, and styles that make defensive shifts, small ball, and other strategic elements in baseball seem lesser in variety. Think about it.

2. Action

It may not be a complicated reason, but many people prefer football simply for action. Indeed football is a tough, masculine, hard-hitting sport.
The action in football, while likely attracting a slightly different “kind” of sports fan, is superior to baseball in regards to action. Obviously baseball is not a contact sport, which is a big reason for number one spot in this countdown.

1. America’s #1 Sport

Numbers, including attendance and revenue – but clearly seen in terms of television viewers – do not lie. Football is America’s number one sport, overtaking baseball: America’s pastime.
In the United States football has boomed over the last several years/decades, manifesting on television, in high school and college, and seen as the NFL overcomes the MLB/NBA in popularity.
This final reason is an interesting counter to baseball (America’s pastime), creating a tight race for which sport is truly better. Of course, context and subjectivity will label the best sport between football and baseball.